A SECOND string Sharks side almost pulled off a remarkable victory over Western Stormers at Heywood Road.

A SECOND string Sharks side almost pulled off a remarkable victory over Western Stormers at Heywood Road.

The South African Super 12 side, led by Springbok skipper Corne Krige and including a host of international stars, were trailling last night's match (Tuesday) 7-5 as the game went into injury time.

But by that time, Sharks had sent on eight Under-21s and the Stormers snatched a converted try and penalty in injury time to steal a 15-7 victory.

Sharks' coach Jim Mallinder paid tribute to his young side, saying: "That was a tremendous performance and very encouraging for the future.

Experience

"The game was a tremendous opportunity to give some of our experienced senior squad players a meaningful game and to provide some of our youngsters the chance to play against a very experienced outfit.

"It is good to know that they can cope at this level."

It was the first appearance of Krige since being one of five players fined and reprimanded for off-the-ball incidents during South Africa's game against England before Christmas.

However, he still enjoys playing in England and held his hands up when two of his team-mates were sin-binned during last night's game.

"We were under pressure and they deserved to be sent to the bin," he said.

Jos Baxendell touched down in the first half for a Sharks try with scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth converting.